A correspondent writes that his ancestral family was Herbold(t), who arrived in Philadelphia in the year 1738 in late October on the bilander Thistle . There were many delays in 1738, a year noted for the great loss of life in the Atlantic crossing. More normally, ships arrived in late August or in September. The Herbold family arrived without an adult male, perhaps due to the poor circumstances during the crossing. Two brothers, Nicholas and Adam Harpole surface in Augusta County, Virginia, about 1760.
The correspondent is attempting to locate the German home of his ancestral family. He is inclined to think it may be Baden, but the Württemberg or Palatinate states would be good candidates also. If the family were Anabaptist in religion, then Alsace would be another candidate.
This is a typical problem of many people, trying to find the German home. One of the first things that I would do is to plot, using the modern locations of the name Herbold and similar names such as Harbold, Herbolt, etc. from the telephone book. Since the ship is known, and therefore the other passengers are known, I would also plot some of the other names in the ship's list, especially the names which are close to the family in the list. Some names are too common to be useful but some names can be very useful. [The name Steinseifer is bunched today around Siegen and is an excellent example showing that modern descendants have not moved far afield.]
There is a good chance that Adam and Nicholas might be married by 1760, so I would look for marriages in Pennsylvania. Check the names of the wives, if known, against the ship's list. Were they marrying someone from the old village? Wherever possible, study the community and see with whom members of the Herbold family associate.
Several books have been prepared with the names of emigrants. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City is a good source for these. Also, there are people on the staff there who specialize in helping people find their village of origin. Be sure and check families who seem to be associated with the Herbold.
Baden has several Ortssippenbuechen, which are printed lists and analysis of the Church Records in villages. Some of these are to be found in the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, and in the FHC.
Finding the old home village is not easy and, in most cases, a quick search will prove to be disappointing.
(15 Aug 05)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.